Even newcomers to Japanese football will know how they last year defended their 2007 league title; a crown claimed along with the 07 Emperor's Cup. That alone paints a fairly clear picture of the modern J. League, but how about over the full course of the league's history?

Using a totally arbitrary system conceived by yours truly while down the gym, lets find out! Going back as far as the professionalisation of the game in 1992, teams are awarded:

Beyond that you start getting into the realms of (so far) one-off cup winners (Oita) or several time cup runners up (Cerezo).

No surprises at the top of the table, then. Kashima are head and shoulders above all comers. Jubilo are up next, and while their time came and went a few years ago, it reflects well the various J. League records they set and which still stand. Marinos always threaten to reclaim, at least in part, their glory days, but it's probably safe to say that Verdy are well past their best. S-Pulse come in far-too-far-below-Jubilo at 6th, joint with Asian Champions Gamba.

So anyway, what made me want to spell out the above? Most people don't need proof for what's self evident. Some people however, a good example being Shintaro Kano of The Daily Yomiuri, seem to be living on another planet.

In an article bemoaning the lack of fight of many Japanese fans, Kano signs off with this absolute gem:

"Is it a coincidence that the fans of Urawa Reds, the most successful club in the J.League, are the toughest to please?"

Is this a well disguised tongue-in-cheek dig at the perpetual Urawa hype-machine, or does he actually believe it? We've already seen it isn't the case, but worse that that, it's not anywhere close to reality. Even if you dispense with my convoluted points system and look at titles won, Kashima come in first with 12, Verdy and Marinos next with 7, followed by Jubilo with 6. Only then do you get to Urawa, sitting level with Gamba at 5.

Average league placings put Kashima first (3.3), Jubilo next (4.5), then Marinos (4.9). S-Pulse pull in a respectable 6.8, and it's only after this that you get to Reds. Last year's finish of 7th should be no big surprise; it's perfectly in keeping with their J1 average - also 7th.

I think what Kano meant to write was:

"...fans of Urawa Reds, the most successful club in the J.League in 2005 and 2006 (but don't look either side of these years as other teams were winning more), are the hardest to please?"

The problem is, that doesn't back up his underlying point of unforgiving fans = successful team, so he seemingly plucked something out of thin air to lend credence to the theory.

Urawa are a big, strong team. They have more money than anyone else, and they've had the potential to deliver for years. This is all common knowledge, but save for a brief burst a few seasons ago, they've consistently failed to produce. Given everything, you'd have to be pretty blind to keep peddling the myth of "most successful team".

Shintaro Kano is guilty of lazy, not to mention entirely inaccurate, "journalism". Re-writing history to suit your own ends? That's how dictators get started, you know.

Friday, 6 February 2009

The 2009 league and league cup fixtures were released February 6th. For the full league week by week fixtures, click here. For S-Pulse's 2009 league and league cup fixtures in English for the first time anywhere, read on...

Not a bad fixture list, and as it turns out we weren't wrong about the Omiya opener!

There's rather too many Sunday games for my liking, including the otherwise easy away days of Kawasaki, Marinos, Nagoya and Jubilo all on Sundays. What with work early on a Monday morning, these being on Sundays is going to impact on whether I can get to them or not. The Derby is a given though, obviously!

The trek out to Ecopa for the home game with Urawa is a pain, but home advantage isn't as important for this one as it is for the derby, (which is at 'Daira), so we may as well milk the Red travelling army for as much as we can in gate receipts. Security issues have been officially cited as a reason why this one is to be at Ecopa, and add this to the fact it falls at the start of the Golden Week national holiday bonanza, and we may well see way more through the gates than 'Daira's 20000 limit. Either way, it'll be fun to use Ecopa as a home ground - it's been a while!

Well, the home derby at 'Daira on a summer Saturday night will be awesome, and it's the one out of that lot I really can't wait for, but I guess that's a no brainer. If it's anything like as heated and electric as the 2-1 win back in '07, then we're in for a cracking night. There's a number of potentially huge BDOs in there too, Gamba, Hiroshima and Nagoya to name but three!

The top two from each group go into the quarter finals with the four ACL teams to make up the final eight. For a greater breakdown of how the tournament is organised (I use the term loosely) this year, click here.

And who should have got Japan's first two goals? Well done Okazaki on your second and third goals for the national team. By all accounts it was a poor Finland side which turned out, but it's still good to see that Okachan has his scoring boots on ahead of the new season!

Next Game

J1 Table

League Game Crowd Watch

A Fanzine Four Years in the Making

That's four years of meaning to get round to it. Having followed the Mighty 'Pulse since 2004 and experienced enough highs, lows and last minute penalty misses to last a lifetime, it's high time we started documenting our adventures. Join us as we travel the length and breadth of Japan, seeing the sights, drinking the ales, befriending the locals, and occasionally even taking in 90 minutes here and there.

Originally consisting of one loan member sitting through a home defeat in a typhoon (without the luxury of a roof), the UK Ultras are now a fluid group of 20+ S-Pulse fans from around the world - including several Japanese! The only continent not yet represented is Africa.

Above and beyond acting as a scrapbook for our own varied misadventures, this fanzine's goal is to provide news and information to the English speaking world about a truly unique football club, and to help build and broaden S-Pulse's profile on the world stage. With thousands of visits here from all four corners of the planet, the world is clearly hungry to learn about S-Pulse, and we're happy to help spread the word.

Being a football fan has never just been about what happens on the pitch, and this fanzine is here to document all the fun and games that go along with following S-Pulse. We'll sometimes report on news other than S-Pulse which rattles our cage, but we're experts on nothing other than our own opinion, so don't take anything we say too seriously. Match reports being a good example. Wildly biased and put together on memory (it's not easy taking notes while dancing the samba), they may occasionally be lacking in analytical depth.

Other than that, just enjoy one of the wildest rides in the J. League - Shimizu S-Pulse!

Contributors

Having set up this fanzine back in April 2008 it's since taken on a life and a momentum of it's own. It's not easy to always find the time to keep the site updated, but seeing how many hits we get from around the world, the effort is worth it.

When not bouncing around behind the goal at Nihondaira, he expends his remaining football energy on the glorious Brighton and Hove Albion.

Fuz: Lives in Osaka now but her heart is still in Shimizu. Mother to one cheeky wee girl she lives in hope of getting to more games these days.

When she's not rooting for the 'Pulse, Fuz spends her footie time following the mightyGlasgow Rangers.